Andrea Ehrig-Mitscherlich , b. Mitscherlich, mated. Schöne, Ehrig (born December 1, 1960 in Dresden ) is a former German speed skater who, starting in the GDR in the 1980s , helped shape the world's top long-distance races. Already in 1976 at the age of 15 she won Olympic silver over 3000 meters, eight years later also over 1000 and 1500 meters and in 1984 she became Olympic champion over 3000 meters. In 1980 she was fourth over 3000 meters. At her fourth Olympic Games in 1988 , she won two silver medals in the long distance and bronze over 1500 meters.
Her international career began at a young age following her first successful participation in the Olympics in 1976. Since then she has played a decisive role in determining what happens on the medium and long haul routes. From 1983 to 1988 she was consecutively European champion in the all-around competition - with the exception of 1984, when she decided not to participate because of the Olympic preparation. In 1983 and 1985 she became world champion and between 1982 and 1987 she won four World Championship silver. She won 6 World Cup races and came second and five times third. In total, she set 9 world records in medium and long distances as well as in all-around competitions. This puts her in third place in the German record, behind Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann (19) and Karin Enke (10).
Although she specialized in long distance races, she also took part in sprint races on a regular basis and took top places there. At the World Championships in the sprint four-way battle she was three times 4th and twice sixth. At the World Championships in 1985 and the European Championships in 1987 and 1988, she won the titles with victories over all four individual distances - a feat that only Gunda Niemann could repeat later. Together with Karin Enke , Christa Rothenburger and Gabi Zange , she secured the dominance of East German runners on all routes in the 1980s. After winning the European Championship and the Olympic silver medal over 5000 meters, she and her colleagues Karin Enke and Gabi Zange declared the official resignation of the "big three" in 1988.